Final answer:
The 14th Amendment's goal to protect equal rights was hampered by inconsistent Supreme Court rulings and enforcement, allowing Southern states to continue discriminatory practices and maintain White supremacy through state laws and acts of violence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Interpretation and Enforcement of the 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 as one of the Reconstruction Amendments, with the intention of providing citizenship to African Americans and protecting citizens from discriminatory state laws.
However, its impact was limited by inconsistent enforcement and interpretations by the Supreme Court, which allowed Southern states to create laws that upheld racial segregation and discrimination, as exemplified by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision affirming 'separate but equal'.
Moreover, the Equal Protection Clause focused on preventing state governments from denying equal protection, but the Supreme Court later ruled that this did not extend to acts of private persons, thus reducing the scope of federal intervention against private discrimination.
The Supreme Court interpretations during this era often upheld state actions that violated the spirit of the 14th Amendment, leaving African Americans vulnerable to the continuation of systemic racism and violence, as evidenced by the endurance of Black Codes, and later, Jim Crow laws. Furthermore, the federal government was not always forceful or consistent in asserting the Amendments' provisions, particularly in protecting due process or in curtailing acts of violence and discrimination.
Despite its promises, the 14th Amendment's effectiveness was undermined by legal and extralegal measures designed to maintain White supremacy, highlighting the challenges of enforcing civil rights in the face of entrenched racial discrimination.